Well, it has been a long while since I have updated this blog. You may have already guessed the reason, but it was because of a girl. Hopefully you recall why I undertook this project: to move closer to my girlfriend and then to marry her. At the time everyone thought I was a little crazy. I had a great job that I quit, I left a respected Master’s program (don’t worry I am going back), and I bought an old beat up trailer and invested all of my time/money into it. I am pretty sure the only people who didn’t think I was completely crazy were my girlfriend Rebecca and my brother Chris; both of whom were utterly important in the project succeeding. As you already know it did succeed and I got it done in time for the move. (All in a total of 3 months!)

Now I have been living in it for almost a year and Rebecca is now my wife! *Double high-five* In fact we are currently both full-timing in it! Its been a blast so far and hopefully I (we) will now begin to write about living in our Airstream love shack. But for now I will share with you some of my favorite shots of the wedding. For me, these pictures represent a gamble paid off. (A big thank-you to Justin Wright) Yes, it was crazy. Yes, many people doubted it would even happen, let alone work out. (Especially when I mentioned the Humanure toilet!) Yes, there were some dark, hard, painful 14 hour days. But I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. None of it would have been possible except for Chris and Mary supporting me, feeding me, and teaching me in the ways of Airstreaming. I now firmly believe everyone should experience the thrill of casting caution to the wind and diving in head first-especially when its dangerous. The move, the Airstream, and my new marriage will be the some of the proudest moments of my life…

Here is the view right as you walk in. Here we have the extra freezer space and the kitchen stove/oven:

As you turn to your right:

You may notice the curb side bench is a bookshelf and shoe cubby:

If you keep spinning right, you will see the way you came in, the fireplace, and the trashcan:

Then the kitchen:

On the street side you can see the original fridge and microwave:

Here you can see the LED lighting that runs through the kitchen:

Stepping into the bathroom:

The bathroom floor is a one large stainless steel shower pan; notice you have access to all of your clothes from the shower:

The bathroom sink bowl is original but the rest we constructed:

The “toliet” is a Humanure composting toilet. It is better known as a “sawdust toilet.” The green bag is the cover material:

The shower assembly is about as basic as you can get, kind of a modern industrial feel:

The shower curtain runs 360 degrees around to keep the water inside the shower pan:

Stepping into the bedroom you immediately notice the exposed “whale-tail”:

On the curb side I have a desk that runs the full length of the bed:

The bed is basically the dimensions of a queen, looking forward you can see the ‘LG Art Cool,’ which is my AC/heat pump:

I call this the lazy man. you can lay in bed and not even move your head:

Jesus at the helm:

Where else can you step from your shower into bed?

Well I hope you enjoyed this little tour. Over the coming months I will be talking more about how we designed and built some of these areas, as well as topics that pertain to living in an Airstream!

I have always had a specific layout for the Cruiser in mind. I knew I wanted a queen bed, a desk, and a dinette up front. The only hard part was getting it all in there. Actuall,y using basic 1×2′s and a Kregg-screw system, I was surprised how easy it was to make custom furniture once Chris showed me the basics. I stayed realistic about my time frame and went for the simplest furniture possible. I knew that my outlook on things would change dramatically once I lived in it for a while, so I was just determined to meet the deadline with a good product. In the front I wanted a simple dinette. I would use the walls of the Airstream as the back of the bench with pillows lining it. (eventually) The street side bench above would house storage and a small freezer underneath. And the curb side bench would be a bookshelf and shoe cubby.

The kitchen was mainly there, it just needed some basic repairs.

The bed was just framed in using the same method. Here you can see it with the OSB top. Its 60″ wide and about 76″ long. The water heater, and electrical is under the bed. The rest was compartmentalized with storage in mind. Some around the edges is easily accessible, and others is not…I call it the attic.

Alongside of the bed is my desk. Here you can see the legs/shelves of the desk installed. My basic idea was that I could sit on the bed and treat it like a real desk or recline back on the bed and surf the net with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Finally, I put a nice coat of poly on everything. I used birch plywood as much as I could, and I found a few pieces that were really beautiful. Above, you can see one of the curves that makes building furniture a little tricky in the “silver bullet.” However one nice thing is that you can screw everything down to the ground, securing it. On the left is a bench top and the other is the desk top. I had no idea what a “face-frame” was or how to use Kregg Screws, before this project, but it was actually really fun making my own furniture for the Airstream. When utility is your biggest concern sometimes you inadvertently make something attractive! (If I do say so myself!) I am hoping to borrow a nice camera in the next few days to shoot the up-to-date progress for the blog, so check back soon!

When working on something like an Airstream, you realize how much effort goes into either heating something up or cooling something down. Refrigerators, freezers, ovens, air conditioners, fireplaces, water heaters….we are pretty finicky creatures! On this post I want to talk about the most important, and arguably least important of the lot: the fireplace, and water heater. (Ok, I will be the first to admit, I am not going to do cold showers for a year, but I did say “arguably!”)

Let’s start with the water heater. You have a number of options in RV water heaters. The usual sort is a 6 or 10 gallon traditional water heater. Most of these are either electric or propane powered. These have severe disadvantages though. The chief of which is that you would only potentially have 6 to 10 gallons of hot water, and then also that you are constantly heating that water even when not in use. This sort is fine if you are using the Airstream as a traditional camper, because you expect not to have much hot water…if any, and won’t keep the water heater in use for long periods of time. But if you are living in it full time, you will need more. That’s where my friends over at Precision Temp come in. I opted for the RV-500:

It is a tankless or “on-demand” propane RV water heater that instantly heats the water whenever you turn on the hot water faucet. The beauty is that propane is only being used when I turn on the hot water, and I have as much hot water as I want. (Well as long as I have enough propane and water…) It is so efficient that a standard 20 lb tank of propane will give you over 60 –  10 minute showers! All for the cost of about $20 a refill of propane. If you are an Airstream owner, then you can request an pre-painted aluminum door that will polish up quite nicely. Here are the pictures of the install:

If there are many options to heat the water in your Airstream. there are even more on how to heat the cabin on a frosty night. I took my advice on this matter from personal sailors who often brave cold nights out on the ocean in a cabin not much smaller than an Airstream. Actually many of the appliances and strategies of small living are the same between Airstream’s and sailboats. After all, that is why Airstreams were termed “Land Yachts!” On a boat you have to have great efficiency from a heater and one that holds up in rather extreme conditions. After reading many user-reviews from sailors, and also seeing them also installed in “Tiny Houses,” I decided the Dickinson propane marine fireplace was for the Cruiser. It has a 12-volt fan that helps circulate the hot air created by the fireplace. It is also a “direct vent” design” which means it pulls air from outside for combustion so the fire is sealed off from any air inside the cabin. You want that because of safety issues, especially in such a small cabin.  Did I mention it was efficient? A 20 lb of propane will get you well over 100 hours of heat.  And its all stainless steel to boot:

I promise to get more pictures of the fireplace once we get to the final reveal, but I can say that the Precision Temp works like a champ. It is nice and constant hot water, whenever you need it. I am almost looking forward to winter now with all of these new shiny appliances!!

Once the paint was done we moved quickly to install the flooring. We were looking for a few things; something attractive, affordable, durable, and would give strength to the nearly 60 year old sub-floor. While we replaced the rotten sections of the sub-floor; extra strength in an old trailer is always a plus. Chris recommended UV coated plywood. It is plywood that has been cured using UV light/rays and creates a much more durable finish than could be achieved otherwise. It also gives a very smooth surface to walk on. You can see a piece of it above. We used 1/2 inch Birch, and probably went through an entire stack to find the 5 most attractive sheets they had.

Before we installed it, I thought it would help out in the winter to put a 1/4 in. polystyrene board underneath the plywood to create a thermal break between the potentially freezing air underneath the trailer and my toes:

The foam board also served as a good template to be cut for some of the tricky corners. The install actually went very quickly, and really warmed the interior up quite well. We attached it using stainless steel screws which gave it a nice industrial feel. After living in it a few weeks now, I can tell you the floor has really held up well. It is nice on the feet and very easy to sweep up. You don’t have to worry about spilling liquids on it at all, which is an added bonus. Check it out:

Remember when I first got it?:

I apologize for the “brief” intermission in the blog over the past few weeks. Chris and I have been so crazy busy on getting not one, but TWO Airstreams up to running speed, that blogging had to take a backseat. Going forward I am going to continue blogging about the construction efforts that have already taken place and then my part in the blog will move towards the adventure of actually living in an Airstream. Yes, the Airstream has made it to Memphis thanks to Chris, and I am currently living in it. To give you a sneak peak….its incredible. But more on that in a week or two.

I left off at the Fantastic Fan install, after that we had some electrical lines to run, insulation to install, and the original  interior skins to rivet back up. Then came the fun part…painting.

I went with a nice plain white for the majority of the walls…at least where the aluminum wasn’t poking out. I I had some awesome friends help out. The faithful Brian Wong:

And the glorious Gracie Currie:

As you can see I chose a blue for the cabinets. It is called “Deep Shadow Blue” and as the name conveys, it is supposed to be a grayish blue, but in bright light it is quite blue. All that to say, I believe it is an excellent color for the airstream.

Chris was telling me how great of a painter I was:

I believe it turned out really well. Here was the final product, mind you the new flooring changes the feel quite a lot (but that’s the next post):

Yes, I am poking through the roof of my Airstream! Why? Well only to install a Fantastic Fan! (No, that is their actual name, I am not being cute.) Controlling airflow in a small space is very important. If you can imagine cooking and showering where you do everything else, air quality becomes very important. These fans have won over the Airstream community as the fan to get. It fits the original 14 inch vent hole in the roof of my 60 year old Airstream, and so it was a no brainer. They have 3 speeds, run off 12-volt, and can push air in or out. The sound is pleasant, yet air really gets moved around. We roughly calculated with all three fans on high, I will be evacuating all of the air in the trailer every minute! The fan over the bedroom has a thermostat and a rain-sensor on it as well, so it can be left open at night and while I am gone. I tested the rain-feature last night and it worked like a charm.

Here is the fan:

As you see above, I just weaseled my way up into the old vent and began drilling out the rivets. After the old Hehr vent came out, I of course had to polish the top of the trailer!

Next the new fan goes in! It was a little tricky lining up the aluminum framing members underneath, but with a little fiddling we got it. Just make sure you use plenty of caulk around it!

Then you are done! They really do work great!

Lids up!

After we pulled the original off, I pounded it flat to get a fairly good template for the actual piece of aluminum.  Cutting a new piece the same shape is the easy part.  Bending the flanges while the piece is curved is the hard part.

First I needed to find the curve.  I taped a piece of cardboard below the eyebrow location on the trailer.  You could use something a little sturdier, but I found it sufficient.  I took a small piece of wood with sharp points at both sides and proceeded to copy the curve onto the cardboard.  To keep things straight, use a different angle at opposite ends of your stick.  I put the sharpest end at the starting point of the eyebrow and then traced the bottom end of my stick on the cardboard. Then I copied all rivet holes using the same method.  Make sure you fan out the tracings on the cardboard some so you don’t get confused.  The position of the stick on the cardboard is irrelevant at this stage.  Placing the upper point exactly where the eyebrow would have been is the important point.  The more tracings and point locations you pencil on to the cardboard, the easier to finish the curve when you draw it out on a sheet of plywood.  Now the elephant in the room here is that as you can tell I am not plumb while marking these out.  If the old eyebrow was in and at a good state, I would have tic sticked to the outer edge.  But, it didn’t hurt the end product.  Here is a picture of the tic sticking on the Airstream.

After that, lay the cardboard on your form piece.  I used a piece of 3/4 ply.  Then all you have to do is to place the bottom of your stick exactly in the your pencil trace, and tic mark the upper point.  This is where the more tics you marked from above will help generate the curve.  All in all, a little artistic license to connect the dots is required.  Here is my attempt.

I ended up cutting the inner line as that would be the bottom part of the flange, and then traced that onto another piece of plywood after sanding on a belt sander.  Here is the slot cut in the second piece of plywood.

I drilled a hole near the start, so that the plywood would stay intact.  This allows the aluminum to stay in place while hammering.  To the right in the picture, you can see the old eyebrow hammered flat.

So I pre-polished the aluminum both sides!

Inserted the new piece of aluminum with the outer rim up!

Then all you do is take a smooth faced hammer or dolly, set your height above the plywood for the size of flange, and start bending it over.  I did hammer the ends first to help hold this in place.  This does take a little practice, but more light hammering the better.  Don’t be afraid to get after it.  You end up with this!

This sets the curve although it helps while bending the rear flange to to check it against your template for subtle tweaks.  I used the 1 inch side of my hand benders and started on one side and just bent a little at a time.  I bent a few degrees the entire way, and then went back and bent a few more degrees.  As a note, you don’t need a full 90 degrees.  Check it against the trailer for fit.

I decided to drill on the trailer using the old rivet holes.  Started center at the top, and proceeding down each side using clecos as I went.  I should have modified from the original with a slightly taller rear flange, but Olympic rivets with a little love from a sander turned out great.  So seal with your preferred method, and install.

Here is the final!

Here it is on the way to the recycler!

After exhumation,  I filled the fiberglass tank with water, and watched for leaks.  The dump valve had been replaced recently which was the good thing, the bad thing was the the tank was seeping from the bottom.  I could have re-coated with epoxy, and probably added fiberglass, but I came up with the idea if I was going through the trouble, I wanted more storage space. I ignored the old forced air heating thought that would keep the tank from freezing, and went straight to the larger size.  I went from a tank that could hold approx 8-10 gallons, to one that can hold 24.

I first looked into constructing one out of stainless steel as I work with a ss fabricator quite often here in Nashville.  After research, I discovered that stainless steel should really only be used for fresh water.  In waste water, the welds succumb to acids causing pin hole leaks. Urine in particular is extremely corrosive.

ABS plastic seemed to be the right choice.  Some big suppliers for tanks are All-Rite, Inca Plactics, Ronco-Plastics, and the Tank Depot.    After talking to a few local RV suppliers, I happened on a local Nashvillian who made tanks for a living.  So after parting with $430, I had my new black tank.  Welded ABS plastic, with the same layout as my previous tank. I installed for a test run on our trip to Florida.  After the trip I decided to adjust three things.

1. The fitting he had welded on for the toilet flange came above the tank by 2 inches. I had to shim up my toilet to make things work on my trial run.  I ended up cutting the fitting down and dropping it flush with the top of the tank.

2. Washing out the black tank is important to control odor.  So after pulling the tank I decided to add a tank wash out.  I purchased the Tornado Rotary Tank Rinser which I’ll try and post a review after having in use for a few months. I installed it on the top of the tank so that I could plumb it in with an accessible valve inside the trailer.

3. One way of determining if your tank is full is to wait until it backs up into your tub.  I decided to take the high road and install tank sensors.  My local rv supplier had a $38 dollar panel for Fleetwood RV that can be seen here.  This kit can handle three tanks, and can also give you battery health, and switch on a water heater and a 12v water pump.  It did no come with any sensors.  I purchased a few they had in stock, which you can see here.

These sensors though seem to have problems with sludge giving them false readings.  Enter Horst Miracle Probes.  They protrude further into the tank making them resistant to sludge covering them. They need to be installed with the open end down, but they have a flat spot on the bolt which helps with adjustment.

After Installing, it comes down to attaching the leads, hooking up to a battery!

Bridging the sensors to complete the circuit, and pressing the button.  All is functioning.

So now I am ready to re-install.  More on that later.

When I left you last time, things did not look so well. We had found 3 of the framing members, under the kitchen/bathroom floor and hanging on for dear life. Not to mention the floor was rotten in that area do to pipe leaks. So, we had no choice but to dive right in. And that’s what we did.

First, we had to create new outriggers. We did this by welding two pieces of L-channel steel together. A few friends stopped by to help out, thanks CJ and Brian! Here, Brian and I are trying our hands at welding.

Next, we had to cut the new c-channel of steel  into the correct measurements. CJ and Chris are doing that here:

What a hunk…

Oh and a while back on the “polishing post” I received some comments about my Zoolander pose of “blue steel,” so I thought I would show you the real “Blue Steel”:

Moving on…

We then welded them into place.

Threw in some new Advantech subfloor.

Riveted on new aluminum.

and threw on these new rims and baby moons…

And you get…!

Errr, I mean…

And she pulled through beautifully! We have now moved on to the inside, but I have just a few more projects to catch up on around the exterior. Yesterday we actually did a similar flooring fix on the rotten floor in the rear. Now the floor is pretty darn solid. Maybe we should refer to the blog as Airstream ER…